Numerous textile operations involve the use of yarn taken from various types of yarn packages, such as bobbins or spinning tubes, on which the yarn is wound. Typically, in the continuation of such operations, a bobbin or spinning tube is replaced with a full bobbin or tube before the yarn on the bobbin or tube in use is fully spent. The residual yarn left on the bobbin or tube must then be removed to prepare the spent bobbin or tube for reuse. One of the most common methods of cleaning bobbins for reuse is to strip the residual yarn therefrom axially by forcing the bobbin or tube axially between means for engaging the periphery of the tube. The majority of conventional machines employ cam actuated means for exerting the axial force on the bobbin or tube to be cleaned which is necessary to force the bobbin or tube through the engaging or stripping means. An example of a successful cam actuated machine is depicted and described in Ferguson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,976, issued July 4, 1978, for "Spinning Tube Stripping Means". While such machines satisfactorily strip the residual yarn from bobbins or tubes, the machines are relatively slow, the Ferguson U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,976 machine being capable of stripping approximately thirty bobbins per minute. Typically, such machines employ a plurality of additional cams to actuate the associated machine motions and, because of this, such machines are relatively large and heavy, and have the additional disadvantage of creating a high noise level.
In contrast, the present invention provides an apparatus employing means for exerting an axial stripping force to the bobbin to be cleaned without the need for an actuating cam. As a result, a significant increase in stripping speed is possible, apparatus embodying the present invention being capable of stripping up to sixty bobbins per minute. When such means are employed to reciprocate a plunger for forcing a bobbin through stripping means, a much longer plunger stroke is possible than with conventional cam actuation of a plunger, thereby eliminating the need for a take-up mechanism to pull the bobbin through the stripping means after the initial thrust of the plunger.
The elimination of the speed restrictions burdening conventional machines also allows the increase of the speed of related machine motions. Therefore, new and novel means for feeding textile bobbins, tubes or the like has been developed to singly deliver bobbins to a position offset from the location of stripping thereby allowing the feeding means to prepare for the feeding of another bobbin while the stripping of the delivered bobbin takes place. New and novel means for supporting and automatically positioning bobbins in a centered position for stripping is also provided, eliminating the need for exactness in the aligning mechanism. Each of these related machine motions is actuated by a single cam. As a net result, the speed of each motion is increased to complement the increased speed of reciprocation of the plunger.
Finally, a new and novel stripping blade mounting assembly is provided wherein each stripping blade has a plurality of symmetrically disposed stripping surfaces and wherein each blade is slidably insertable and removable from the mounting assembly. In contrast to prior machines, no screws or bolts are used to secure the stripping blades in proper disposition for stripping. In this manner, when the exposed stripping blade edges become dulled by use, the blades may easily be removed from the mounting assembly by hand and simply turned to expose another stripping surface or replaced with a new blade, and reinserted in the mounting assembly.